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SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has implemented safe living, safe work and safe rest days measures in the dormitories of migrant workers to prevent the spread and formation of large conglomerates of COVID-19, said the second minister of Manpower Tan See Leng on Wednesday (Sept. 9).
He added that many dorm residents have never been infected with COVID-19 and are still susceptible to the virus.
“We have implemented a multi-layered strategy to detect, as well as contain, any new infection, very quickly and decisively. And obviously the key is prevention, so we establish a safe life, a safe job and safe days off, “Dr. Tan said at a press conference of the multi-ministry task force.
“These are measures that limit the mix of workers in bedrooms and workplaces. And we also make sure that unwell workers are quickly isolated and treated, and this helps prevent the spread and formation of large clusters. ”
All bedrooms were declared COVID-19 free on Aug. 11, but since then, there have been around 45 new infections daily, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) said.
These were detected mainly through efforts such as routine testing with biweekly lists and through “aggressive screening and testing” each time a new case is detected, the Health Ministry said.
“About 2 percent of these cases have positive serological tests, indicating past infections,” he added.
ROUTINE TESTS
Routine checklist testing remains “the hallmark” of MOM’s COVID-19 strategy in migrant worker dormitories, Dr. Tan said, adding that it is “very critical” in identifying workers who have contracted. the coronavirus.
It takes place every 14 days for every resident and dormitory worker in the construction, marine and process industries.
In early August, about 15 percent of dormitory residents began routine testing on a list, Dr. Tan said. As more workers turned up for testing, the number of new cases detected also increased. around the third week of August, he scored.
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As of Wednesday, about 90 percent of dorm residents were scheduled for a routine break, and the Human Resources Ministry expects it to reach 100 percent in the coming weeks, Dr. Tan added.
“If they are determined to be positive through our ERR, we quickly contain and isolate them. We encircle them. We control the spread by analyzing and isolating close contacts,” said Dr. Tan.
“Very aggressive” test operations are also being carried out in the bedrooms based on the assessment of the potential risk of spread, allowing authorities to quickly isolate other cases in the bedrooms, he added.
REEMERGENCY OF COVID-19 IN BEDROOMS
Addressing the resurgence of COVID-19 in dormitories that were cleared in August, Dr. Tan said that to date, more than 200 “re-emerging” dormitory sites have been “successfully contained.”
“For most of these sites, the number of reemerging infections has been low, less than 10 each. And the reemerging infection rate among those who have not been previously infected is low, about 2 percent. ”
The Ministry of Manpower also worked with the Ministry of Health to develop a new Infection Prevention and Control framework, to improve the knowledge of dormitory operators and standardize measures across all dormitories, he added.
This is at the top of a checklist that is used for self-assessment.
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“We need dormitory operators, we need employers, and we need migrant workers to work together with us … so that we can provide a safe working and living environment for workers and minimize the risk of COVID outbreaks. 19, “said Dr. Tan.
When asked if mixing between workers in different bedrooms at workplaces could be a possible reason for new infections, Dr. Tan said that up to 30 percent of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic. Many of these cases recover after a while and are discovered later by serological tests.
“So we think there are some kind of latent infections like this that are still going on, and that is why we migrated to RRT. Because that’s the only way that we repeat the entire population every 14 days. ”
Dr. Tan also noted that when a reemerging COVID-19 case is found in a bedroom, the entire block is isolated and all residents living in that block are tested for COVID-19.
“We believe this repeated testing routine, listed and becoming part of our own routine, will continue to allow us to eliminate this and bring it under control.”
Responding to questions about the risk of dorm clusters spreading into the community as workers return to work, Dr. Tan cited safe distancing and cohort measures that have been put in place when workers are transported or working in workplaces, and noted that there is “very clear segregation.”
“While we cannot completely eliminate transmission risks, these risks have been significantly mitigated downwards.”
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Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who acknowledged that there is a risk of community infections from migrant workers returning to work, said: “You can imagine that previously these workers were in the bedroom and we (have) cleaned the bedrooms. Now that we have cleared the bedrooms, they are back to work and are therefore working on the job site.
“And the nature of the workplace is this interaction, not only between migrant workers but also with Singaporean colleagues who are also working in the workplace. Therefore, there will be a risk of transmission and we have also seen several Singaporean citizens and PR who became infected in the workplace related to the CMP sector (construction, marine, process). ”
Ensuring strict safe social distancing measures in the community is also “crucial” to reducing the risk of a large community group forming even if there is an infection in the community, he said.
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